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1. Research Inventy: International Journal Of Engineering And Science
Vol.4, Issue 1 (January 2014), PP 01-19
Issn(e): 2278-4721, Issn(p):2319-6483, www.researchinventy.com
Computation of Irrigation Water Requirements, Its Managements and
Calendering In Mulberry Crop for Sustainable Sericulture under
Tamil Nadu Conditions
S.Rajaram1* and S.M.H.Qadri2
1
Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Berhampore, West Bengal;
2
Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Mysore Karnataka
ABSTRACT : Water Is Undoubtedly Elixir Of Life. Whether It Be For Irrigation, Drinking & Sanitation Or
For The Protection Of Natural Ecosystems & Providing Goods And Services For Growing Populations, Without
Water Life On Earth Is Just Impossible And Hence It Is “Lifeline”. India Is The Second Largest Silk Producing
Country Next To China In The World And Tamil Nadu Occupies The Fourth Position In Raw Silk Production In
The Country. Cultivation Of Mulberry Plant Is Mainly For Its Leaves The Sole Food For The Silkworm, Bombyx
Mori L. For Commercial Production Of Raw Silk. Mulberry Is Cultivated In About 1.86 Lakh Ha. Area In India.
Of The Total Mulberry Area Above 80% Is Under Irrigation Conditions. Where As In Tamil Nadu State Out Of
10,809 Ha. Mulberry Plantation About 95% Of Garden Is Under Irrigated Conditions Reflect The Importance
Of Irrigation For Mulberry Crop. As Irrigation Method Adopted In Mulberry By Farmers Is Of Traditional
Open Type Applied Without Assessment Of Actual Requirement Of Water For The Crop Which Results In Poor
WUE And Huge Water Loss Due To Conveyance, Seepage And Evaporation Etc.,.
To Find An Efficient Irrigation Water Management System In Mulberry Cultivation, A Field Level Experiment
Drawn On Split Split Plot Design In Established Mulberry Garden Under 3’x3’ Plant Spacing With Ruling MR2
Variety And High Yielding V1 Popular Variety Being Popularized In Tamil Nadu With Three Types [Furrow
(Traditional) Sprinkler & Drip (Modern)] And Three Levels Of Irrigation Water Equal To 100; 70 And 50%
Cumulative Epan Scheduled @ 50% SMD In Furrow Method And Same Levels In Both Sprinkler & Drip
Scheduled On Alternate Day Was Conducted In Namackal District Of Tamil Nadu During 2004 -’06 For Eight
Crops. The Results Of The Experiments Conducted Revealed That Micro-Irrigation Systems I.E., Drip
Performed Well At Any Level Of Irrigation Followed By Sprinkler And The Least In Furrow Method. Further
Maximum Irrigation Water Savings Of 61.2 And 32.7% Observed Under Micro Irrigation (Drip) As Against
Farmers Practice And Actual Irrigation Water Requirement For Mulberry Based On FAO’s Modified Penman
And Monteith Equation Respectively With Improvement In Water Use Efficiency [WUE] As High As 300%
Without Affecting The Sustainable Productivity Of Leaf. The Quality Of Leaf Verified By Bio-Assay And In
Terms Of Quality Of Raw Silk And Productivity Revealed The Cost Benefit Ratio Of 1:2.12 And 1:1.99 In V1
And MR2 Mulberry Garden Respectively As Against 1:1.57 Recorded Under Traditional Furrow Irrigation
Method. The Status Of Sericulture, Importance Of Irrigation Water Management With Calendaring For
Mulberry Crop For Sustainable Development Cope Up With SWOT Analysis Of The Industry In Tamil Nadu
Are Discussed In The Paper.
KEY WORDS : Mulberry Crop; Irrigation Water Management; Water Use Efficiency; Sustainable
Productivity; Raw Silk; Cost Benefit Ratio.
I.
INTRODUCTION :
India though occupies 2.4% of land area, it supports for about 16.66% of population with only 4% of
water resources in the world. Water demand and supply gap is increasing year after year and shrinkage in
availability is posing major threat globally in near future. Water Resources Consortium in its recent report
(2009) stated that globally, current withdrawals of about 4500 km3 exceeds the availability of about 4200 km3;
by 2030, the demand is expected to increase to 6900 km3; with a slight drop in availability to 4100 km3 result
with a deficit of 40% and for India, the annual demand is expected to increase to almost 1500 km3, as against a
projected availability of 744 km3; a deficit of 50% (Narasimhan, 2010). India being an agrarian country, its
economic growth largely depends on the development of agriculture and agriculture related industries. Southern
peninsula of our country mainly depends on rainfall for its water source due to lack of perennial rivers as
available in central & northern regions. Tamil Nadu state possesses 3.96% (1.3 crore ha) arable land, 6.08% (7.4
crores) population of the nation with per capita land of 0.208 ha., as against national level 0.32 ha. and 46.89
lakh ha. (36.0%) net sown area and 2.9% land unutilized. The state receives an average annual rainfall of 961.9
mm. in 4 seasons (Anonymous, 2011).
1
2. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
India is second largest silk producing country with a share of 17.5% of raw silk production in the world
and is unique in production of all known four varieties of natural silk namely mulberry, tasar, eri and muga.
During 2012-’13, a total of 23,679 MT raw silk produced, employment opportunities to 75.96 lakh persons and
foreign exchange of Rs. 2,231.08 crores earned for the country through silk goods export by the sericulture
industry. Mulberry silk is the most popular one contributing around 80% of total raw silk production of the
country from 1.86 lakh ha. mulberry area covering 8.18 lakh sericulture families and 50,918 villages. Of the
total mulberry silk of 18,715 MT produced in the country about 97% is produced from the traditional sericulture
states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir (Anonymous,
2013). About 80 percent of mulberry garden in the country is under irrigated condition which shows the
importance of irrigation for the mulberry crop. Silk industry has a long history and is a traditional occupation in
Tamil Nadu. During late 1950’s mulberry area in the sate was around 300 acres with very less raw silk
production, mulberry cultivation and sericulture activity was restricted in the districts bordering Karnataka state.
However the state has earned a prime status of being one of the major silk consuming states in the country since
centuries, owing to the best branded design silk sarees production by the traditional artisans from
Kancheepuram, Arni, Kumbakonam and Salem with infrastructure facilities >75,000 handlooms and appreciable
number of power looms with a total annual consumption around 1,200 MT raw silk. The state has emerged as
one of the major silk producing states in the country in late seventies, now occupies 4th position. Presently
sericulture is practiced in 29 districts, during 2012-’13 a total of 1,185 MT raw silk produced from 10,809 ha.
mulberry by 16,481 farmers accounts for 6.33% production at the national level and production of 575.5 MT
bivoltine silk accounts for 29% of quality bivoltine raw silk production of the nation (Anonymous, 2013).
While average renditta (quantity of cocoons (kg) required for production of one kg raw silk) of 6.76
during 2012-’13 achieved by the state which is 12.35% less than the national level average renditta of 7.72 and
major share on quality bivoltine raw silk production are proven example for wide acceptance and dissemination
of improved technologies in the field of sericulture at all levels and rich potential silk weaving clusters in the
state are considered as vital strength for the sericulture industry of the state on one side, the other side
insufficient irrigation water availability for agriculture purpose in general and for mulberry cultivation in
particular due to low rainfall or failure of monsoon or frequent droughts are found to be the only major limiting
factor which limits the vertical growth of the industry though the state possesses adequate cultivable land for
expansion of mulberry area and many a times to struggle for the maintenance of existing established mulberry
area and productivity at farmers level in the field and raw silk production at the state level. (Rajaram et al.,
2006) Fig.1 shows mulberry area and silk production of the state since 1975 for over 3 decades.
1990-'91
1991-'92
1992-'93
1993-'94
1994-'95
1995-'96
1996-'97
1997-'98
1998-'99
1999-2000
2000-'01
2001-'02
2002-'03
2003-'04
2004-'05
2005-'06
2006-'07
2007-'08
2008-'09
2009-'10
2009-'10
2007-'08
2005-'06
2003-'04
2001-'02
1997-'98
1999-2000
Year
Raw Silk Production (MT)
1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Year
1999-2000
2001-'02
2003-'04
2005-'06
2007-'08
2009-'10
1989-'90
0
1995-'96
1988-'89
3000
1993-'94
1987-'88
6000
1991-'92
1986-'87
9000
1989-'90
1985-'86
12000
1987-'88
1984-'85
15000
1985-'86
1983-'84
18000
1987-'88
1989-'90
1991-'92
1993-'94
1995-'96
1997-'98
1982-'83
21000
1983-'84
1981-'82
24000
1981-'82
1980-'81
27000
1979-'80
1979-'80
30000
1977-'78
1978-'79
15
16
28
62
106
430
484
666
692
791
833
850
672
864
1072
1072
1128
1410
740
753
925
774
600
611
672
571
655
489
285
443
739
1125
1368
1411
1233
Mulberry area (Ha)
33000
1975-'76
1977-'78
3644
4640
6228
8672
12741
16583
19045
22284
25118
27151
29418
30750
17414
19074
20719
23311
26811
30304
14921
16480
15372
7377
9606
10106
9279
11195
9466
5460
4025
5073
6614
10043
14047
13344
14220
(MT)
1975-'76
1977-'78
1979-'80
1981-'82
1983-'84
1985-'86
1976-'77
(Ha)
Hectares
1975-'76
Mulberry Raw Silk
Metric ton
Year
2
Mulberry requires about 1.5-2.0” acre water per
irrigation at an interval of 6 - 12 days depending upon
the type of soil and seasons. About eight number of
irrigation is required per crop of 65-70 days duration
to achieve the maximum leaf yield. Thus the annual
requirement of irrigation water for 5 crops is about
75” acre equal to 1875 mm rainfall distributed
equally @ 36 mm per week or 5-6 mm per day. But
80% of average annual rainfall of 1,160 mm (Lal,
2001; Gupta and Deshpande 2004) our country is
received in 4-5 months and in Tamil Nadu, the
average annual rainfall of 961.8 mm. is received in
40-45 days and hence practically, it is not possible to
meet the demand of irrigation for mulberry crop by
rainfall alone.Further in traditional system of
irrigation practice requires more water and
manpower; the two major limiting factors becoming
scarce and expensive respectively in agriculture
sector in general and sericulture in particular attracted
the attention of researchers in recent times in the field
of water technology and water management. Massive
shifting of irrigation from surface water to ground
water from the level of about 33% during 1960’s to
more than 50% in three decades reduced the ground
water level and its quality considerably
(Swaminathan, 1994).
3. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
Thus water is likely to become critically scarce in coming decades, continuous increase in its demands due to
rapid increase in population and expanding economy in India (Ramasamy Iyyar, 2010).Worldwide agriculture is
the single biggest drain on water supplies, accounting for about 69% of all use, about 23% of water meets the
demands of industry & energy and just 8% goes for domestic & commercial use (Anonymous, 2002). In India,
agriculture sector uses about 93% of water whereas industry and domestic & commercial sectors use 3 & 4%
respectively (Rakesh kumar et al., 2005). As agriculture is the major area of water consumption in our country,
any one speaks of water management; the focus is only on agriculture, even if 10% of water is saved, 14 mha.
will benefit additionally. Existence of vast scope for saving water in irrigation, recycling of water for domestic
uses and awareness among people on water conservation are the key for water management (Palanisami, 2010).
Miyashitha (1986) categorized the various factors contributing successful silkworm cocoon crop as mulberry
leaves 38.2, rearing climate 37.8, rearing technology 9.3, silkworm race 4.2, silkworm eggs 3.1 and other factors
8.2%. As mulberry leaves’ share for the success of silkworm cocoon crop is high, achievement of quality linked
sustainable productivity is inevitable in sericulture.In the above context and in order to achieve maximum Water
Use Efficiency (WUE) in mulberry cultivation without compromise on the quality and productivity of leaf and
raw silk with the policy of “More Crop and Income for Drop of Water” this study was carried out to find way
for sustainable sericulture in Tamil Nadu.
Materials & methods : The experiment was drawn on Split split plot design as suggested by Sukhatme and
Amble (1985) in established mulberry garden under 3’x3’ plant spacing with 2 mulberry varieties namely
V1(Victory-1) a high yielding variety being popularized and MR2 the ruling variety in the state as M1 & M2
with 3 types of irrigation I1, I2 & I3 for furrow (traditional) sprinkler & drip (modern) and 3 levels of irrigation
S1, S2 & S3 computation of irrigation water for mulberry crop (Naoi, 1975; 1977) of irrigation water equal to
100; 70 and 50% cumulative Epan value scheduled @ 50% SMD in furrow method; same levels in both sprinkler
& drip irrigation and scheduled at alternate day. Thus a total of 18 treatments with 3 replications totaling 54
plots with plant population as suggested by Chaturvedi, H. K. and Sarkar, A. (2000) Annexure : 1 & 2. The
experiment was conducted in a demonstration mulberry garden of RSRS., Salem in Namackal district for two
years (2004-’06) followed by validation of findings of the experiment at farmers’ level for 3 years (2007-’09) in
the same locality and the experiment was carried out in 4 crops per annum leaving one crop during peak rainy
season due to availability of irrigation water above treatment level during major part of the crop.Simultaneously
actual irrigation water requirement for mulberry crop based on crop coefficient approach using the FAO’s
modified Penman_Monteith formula (Richard G. Allen et al., 1998) as given below :
ETo = 0 408 ∆ ( R n − G) + 900 u2 (e s − e a )
γ
ETc = ETo x Kc
ETc = Evapotranspiration of crop; Kc = Crop coefficient
constant;
Kc = Kcb x Ke
Kcb : Basal crop coefficient constant; Ke : Soil
evaporation coefficient
T + 273
∆ + γ ( 1+ 0 34 u 2 )
Where
ETo
Rn
G
T
u2
es
ea
es-ea
∆
γ
Reference evapotranspiration [mm day-1],
Net radiation at the crop surface [MJ m-2 day-1],
Soil heat flux density [MJ m-2 day-1],
Mean daily air temperature at 2 m height [°C],
Wind speed at 2 m height [m s-1],
Saturation vapour pressure [kPa],
Actual vapour pressure [kPa],
Saturation vapour pressure deficit [kPa],
Slope vapour pressure curve [kPa °C-1],
Psychrometric constant [kPa °C-1].
Though all growth and quality parameters of mulberry crop meeting the requirement of silkworm rearing for
successful cocoon crop starting from production of leaf and up to raw silk were studied in all crops during the
entire experimental period (Annexure : 3-16), important parameters like leaf productivity per unit area, WUE
and water savings, leaf quality in terms of quality linked productivity of cocoons and raw silk for sustainable
sericulture industry and formulation of suitable Model Irrigation Calendar for Mulberry Crop are covered in this
paper.
II.
1
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS :
1
Leaf yield hectareˉ yearˉ (kg) :
Maximum leaf yield of 64377.16 kg.ha.ˉ 1yearˉ1 under the treatment M1I3S1 followed by M1I2S1
(61938.88), M1I3S2 (60687.69) & M1I2S2 (55396.20) treatments recorded were statistically significant at CD<P
0.05 level and above the productivity recorded under M1I1S1 (50801.48). Increased yield by 26.72 & 21.92% at
3
4. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
same amount of irrigation water used and 19.46 & 9.04% increased productivity with 30% irrigation water
savings obtained under drip and sprinkler irrigation respectively compared to the full irrigation under furrow
method of irrigation in V1 mulberry variety. When quantum of irrigation water reduced >30%, the productivity
potential did not maintained by the variety. Incase of MR2, the maximum productivity of 42579.41
kg.ha.ˉ1yearˉ1 under the treatment M2I3S1 followed by M2I2S1 (40746.58), M2I3S2 (40291.20), M2I2S2 (38123.07)
and M2I3S3 (36029.38) treatments recorded were statistically significant at CD<P 0.05 level and above the
productivity recorded under M2I1S1 (35456.86). Increased yield by 20.09 & 14.92% at same amount of irrigation
water used, with 30% irrigation water savings 13.64 & 7.52% increased productivity and with overall savings of
50% irrigation water 1.61 & -4.90% increased leaf yield under drip and sprinkler irrigation respectively when
compared to the full irrigation under furrow method of irrigation were recorded.Under any combination of
treatments drip irrigation (I3) performed well followed by sprinkler (I 2) and furrow (I1) methods of irrigation.
Similarly yield level performance under full irrigation was higher (S1) followed by next lower level treatments
(S2) & (S3) in descending order and between variety, types and levels of irrigation (M x IS) were found
statistically significant at CD<P 0.05 level.
From the above it is well understood that the V1 mulberry variety is having narrow tolerant limit to
water stress conditions for maintaining its productivity level i.e., when irrigation water level decreases above
30% the variety could not maintain its potential productivity under any methods (micro-irrigation systems drip
& sprinkler) of irrigation. Where as wide adoptability to water stress conditions observed in MR 2 through its
productivity potential maintenance with very less quantum of irrigation water application. The variety was able
to maintain its productivity potential upto 50% reduction of irrigation water under specific conditions i.e.,
adaptation of proper water management technologies. Under drip, irrigation water equal to 50% of CPE applied
in treatment M2I3S3 leaf production of 36029.38 kg was recorded which was 1.61% more than the leaf yield
obtained under full irrigation (1.0 IW:DPE) in treatment M 2I1S1 (35456.86) under furrow irrigation and 34.12%
increased yield when compared to the same amount of irrigation water applied in treatment M 2I1S3, similar
response recorded in growth parameters like total shoot length, number of branches & leaves per plant, leaf area
& leaf area index. However leaf quality parameters like moisture content & moisture retention capacity; protein
& total sugar content studied shown non-significant difference statistically (Table : 2 and Fig. 2-5), similar
response was reported by Parikh et al., (1992) in sugarcane. Several authors in several crops reported water
savings under drip irrigation with increased productivity without affecting the quality of the product.
Sivanappan et al., (1974) reported that 84.7% water saving under drip irrigation compared to conventional
furrow irrigation without any adverse effects on growth and yield in bhendi and this was confirmed by
Sivanappan (1979) in several vegetable crops like tomato, capsicum, okra, pawpaw and bananas with drip
irrigation when compared to conventional surface irrigation at 50% SMD.
Ananthakrishna et al., (1995) recommended 80% Epan value of irrigation under drip scheduled alternate
day for optimum leaf production in K2 mulberry. Similarly Mishra et al., (1996 and 1997) reported 33% of
water savings without affecting the yield under drip in K2 mulberry.Benchamin et al., in 1997 reported the
existence of positive correlation between the leaf yield and the quantum of irrigation and frequency of irrigation
in Kanva2 (K2) mulberry variety. Drip and sprinkler irrigation save 33 % of irrigation water without loss of leaf
yield and quality compared to ridges and furrow method and found drip system more efficient with 10.3 to
14.5% increased leaf yield over furrow system under any quantum of irrigation treatment. Magadum et al.,
(2004) reported that adaptation of drip irrigation in mulberry cultivation at farmers’ level in Karnataka saves a
minimum 30% amount of irrigation water without affecting the leaf yield over traditional irrigation.
Water Use Efficiency (WUE) : Maximum water use efficiency (WUE) of 48.99 kg leaf yield ha.mmˉ1 water
applied under the treatment M1I3S3 followed by M1I2S3 (47.25) obtained in V1 mulberry variety though high, due
to the productivity level was much below (>26% & >28% respectively) the potential achieved for the variety
both the levels may not be economically viable. Similarly the least WUE under the treatment M 1I1S1 (26.18)
followed by M1I2S1 (31.92); M1I3S1 (33.17); M1I1S3 (33.43) and M1I1S2 (33.51) were also found to be
economically non viable. The treatments M1I3S2 (44.68) M1I2S2 (40.78) in V1 mulberry are found to be
economically viable considering the productivity over and above full irrigation (1.0 IW:CPE) under furrow
method of irrigation M1I1S1 (26.18).
In case of MR2, the maximum WUE of 37.13 kg leaf yield ha.mmˉ 1 water applied with the highest productivity
record observed under the treatment M2I3S3 with 103.23% more than the WUE full irrigation (1.0 IW:CPE)
under furrow method of irrigation M2I1S1 (18.27) may be the best choice of method and level (Drip@50%CPE
value) of irrigation for the variety. However the next high WUE obtained under the treatment M 2I2S3 (34.75)
may also be found choicest one for the slope & terrain slope land. All other treatments due to less WUE in terms
4
5. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
of narrow water stress tolerance and productivity may not be economically found viable. The WUE under
different treatments between variety, types and levels of irrigation (M x IS) were found statistically significant at
CD<P 0.05 level (Table : 2 and Fig. 6). Muraleedhara et al., (1994) reported CB ratio of 1:1.64 under drip
irrigation in K2 mulberry. Productivity increase due to more water savings and additional area coverage with it,
improved mulberry varieties / silkworm breed & advancement in technologies have helped to increase the Cost
Benefit ratio to a higher level by 1:2.12 & 1:1.99 in V1 & MR2 mulberry varieties respectively in the present
study (Fig. 7). Under any combination of treatments drip irrigation (I 3) performed well followed by sprinkler (I2)
and furrow (I1) methods of irrigation. The WUE and levels of irrigation are inversely proportional i.e., higher
the level of irrigation lower the WUE, the high WUE at sustainable productivity level may be considered for
recommendation. Ahluwalia et al., (1998) reported drip irrigation induced early maturity of sugarcane crop with
38% water saving and 60.9% increased WUE over surface irrigation. Shinde and Jadhav (1998) in sugarcane
reported that automatically controlled drip saved water upto 56% and yield increased by upto 52% WUE
increased by 2.5 to 3 fold over surface irrigation and mulch reduced water by further 16% than the conventional
irrigation. Bains et al., (1988) reported in sugar beet crop higher water use efficiency of 912 kg roots /cm. In
garlic sprinkler irrigation increased the yield by 13.62% & 5% and WUE by 13.67% & 45.79% higher than the
border irrigation of 5 & 7 cm respectively in addition to 28.6% water savings with sprinkler irrigation
(Suryawanshi et al., 1986). EL-Gindy et al., (1996) reported higher crop yield and WUE in vegetable production
with sub surface drip irrigation.Ananthakrishna et al., (1995) reported higher WUE in K2 mulberry in lower
level of irrigation water applied and optimal WUE under 80% E pan value of irrigation under drip irrigation.
Similarly Benchamin et al., (1997) reported better WUE in mulberry under drip & sprinkler irrigation methods.
Cocoon yield (kg) / 10000 larvae reared : Maximum cocoon yield of 19.80 kgs. obtained for 10000 larvae
reared under treatments M1I2S3, M2I1S3 followed by M2I1S2 with 19.76 and 19.74 in treatment M1I2S2 all at
lower levels of irrigation and all yield performance among all treatments in respect of variety, types and levels
of irrigation (M x IS) all three factors combined together did not showed any significant difference at CD<P
0.05 level statistically (Table : 2).
Renditta : Minimum renditta of 6.79 in M1I3S3 in V1 and 6.77 in M2I3S3 in MR2 and the renditta obtained in all
treatments were statistically non significant at CD<P 0.05 level (Table : 2). The overall annual renditta for cross
breed cocoons of PMxNB4D2 during 1990s was around 9.0 which has improved to a level of 7.0 renditta with
PMxCSR2 in Tamil Nadu state during the year 2009-’10 (Anoymous, 2010).
III.
WATER STRESS MANAGEMENT & WATER SAVINGS :
Gross irrigation water amount applied in the experiment, farmers’ practice and FAO’s modified
Pennmann-Monteith formula ETc based crop water requirement on crop coefficient approach for mulberry
studied showed that upto 45.7 & 61.2% water used at farmers’ practice and 5.9 & 32.7% water as per FAO’s
modified Penman-Monteith formula ETc based water requirement for mulberry have been managed to save
under drip irrigation in V1 & MR2 mulberry variety respectively with sustainable productivity maintenance
very close to the potential leaf yields of the concerned variety and over and above the productivity obtained
under full irrigation in furrow method (Table : 1).
Table : 1
Farmers’
Practice(mm)
Season
Level
FAO’s mP-M
equation (mm)
Full
Experiment (cumEpanin mm)
Full
100%
70%
50%
Nov. - Jan.
500
225.8
306.4
214.5
153.2
Jan. - Mar.
500
288.5
412.2
288.5
206.1
Mar. - June
500
299.4
427.6
299.4
213.8
June - Aug.
500
284.4
406.2
284.4
203.1
Average
500
288.6
388.1
271.6
194.1
111.9
228.4
305.9
22.4
45.7
61.2
-99.5
16.9
94.5
-34.5
5.9
32.7
Water savingsVs.Farmers’ practice
Irrigationwater savings(%)
Water savingsVs.FAO’sP-M. equation
Irrigationwater savings(%)
5
6. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
IV.
CONCLUSIONS :
From the results of the detailed studies conducted on various quality aspects tested and confirmed under the
experiments, it is concluded as below for the sustainable sericulture in Tamil Nadu :
Leaf qualities of both V1 and MR2 mulberry varieties are at par and suitable for silkworm rearing for
production of cocoons on commercial scale, though the production potentiality of the later variety is far
below the former, based on certain preferred characters with the MR2 both the varieties are recommended
for cultivation in the state.
As the potential productivity level of V1, mulberry variety is comparatively very high and its sustainable
productivity level could maintain under narrow water stress conditions, the variety is recommended for
places where assured irrigation facilities available.
Whereas MR2 mulberry variety could maintain its sustainable productivity level under wide limit of water
stress conditions, the variety is recommended for places where limited irrigation facilities available.
Based on the highest production potentiality of both V1 and MR2 varieties established under drip irrigation,
the drip irrigation method is recommended for both the varieties in mulberry cultivation under Tamil Nadu
conditions.
As the sustainable leaf productivity achieved at reduced rate of irrigation water upto 30 and 50% of CPE
value in V1 and MR2 respectively under drip irrigation, the irrigation water amount equal to 70 and 50% of
CPE value in drip irrigation scheduled in alternate days are recommended for the respective varieties under
limited irrigation water availability and for effective utilization of irrigation water in mulberry cultivation.
The performance of microsprinkler irrigation in both V1 and MR2 varieties is very close to drip irrigation
and the same system may be appropriate for mulberry garden raised in slope terrain land and calcareous
soils. Keeping in view of the above a “Model Irrigation Calendar for Mulberry Crop” (MICMC) has been
prepared for the benefit of sericulture farmers, sericulture extension field functionaries and stake holders
(Table : 3-4).
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Table : 2 mulberry crop performance under different type levels of irrigation water application
and silk productivity
7
15. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
Annexure : 5 Plate showing a view of portion of experiment mulberry plot under furrow irrigation
Annexure : 6 Plate showing a view of portion of experiment mulberry plot under furrow irrigation
after pruning
15
16. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
Annexure : 7 Plate showing a view of portion of experiment mulberry plot (V1) under drip irrigation
Annexure : 8 Plate showing a view of portion of experiment mulberry plot (MR2) under drip irrigation
16
17. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
Annexure : 9 Plate showing a view of portion of experiment mulberry plot (V1) under
micro-sprinkler irrigation (Top left corner insert a portion of MR2 & V1 plots)
Annexure : 10 Plate showing a view of portion of experiment mulberry plot (MR2) under
micro-sprinkler irrigation
17
18. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
Annexure : 11 Plate showing a portion of experimental silkworm rearing
Annexure : 12 Plates showing a portion of experimental silkworm rearing
18
19. Computation Of Irrigation Water Requirements…
Annexure : 13 Plate showing silkworm ready
for mounting for spinning
Annexure : 14 Plate showing cocoons in netrike
after spinning
Annexure : 15 Plate showing cocoons after harvest
Annexure : 16 Plate showing cocoon reeled
in Epprouvette
Annexure : 17 Plate showing weighment of
raw silk filament
19